Method and apparatus to allocate and recycle telephone numbers in a call-tracking system

Abstract

In one embodiment, the invention provides a method. The method includes dynamically allocating a telephone number to an advertisement on a just-in-time basis; and if the telephone number is not called for a predefined period of time then unallocating the telephone number.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 in response to receiving an advertisement request from a first of multiple demand partners, allocating a first telephone number to an advertisement and providing the advertisement for presentation to an end user via the first demand partner, the first telephone number to further identify the first demand partner as providing the advertisement; 
 receiving a telephone call to the first telephone number and connecting the received telephone call to a separate telephone number of an advertiser of the advertisement, and identifying the first demand partner as having provided the advertisement; 
 charging the advertiser a predetermined fee for the advertisement, in response to connecting the telephone call, received at the first telephone number provided in the advertisement, to the separate telephone number of the advertiser; and 
 responsive to a determination that the first telephone number has not been called for a predefined period of time, unallocating the first telephone number from the advertisement. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 allocating the first telephone number to a second demand partner for inclusion in an associated advertisement provided by the second demand partner. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 allocating the first telephone number to a plurality of different advertisements. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 if a call to the first telephone number is received, identifying an advertisement of the plurality of advertisements that corresponds to the call; 
 assigning the first telephone number reference to the identified advertisement for future calls to the first telephone number; and 
 unassigning the first telephone number from the plurality of advertisements except the identified advertisement. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 allocating the first telephone number to a plurality of demand partners serving an associated advertisement; 
 if a call to the first telephone number is received, identifying a demand partner of the plurality of demand partners that corresponds to the call; 
 assigning the first telephone number to the identified demand partner for future calls to the first telephone number; and 
 unassigning the first telephone number from the plurality of demand partners except the identified demand partner. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the identifying of the demand partner that corresponds to the call comprises identifying the demand partner based on a temporal proximity between when a demand partner served the associated advertisement and when the call occurred. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the call is attributed to the identified demand partner if none of the plurality of demand partners except the identified demand partner have served the associated advertisement within a predefined time period before the call occurred. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 6 , wherein if more than one demand partner served the associated advertisement within the predefined time period, the call is attributed to the more than one demand partner. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising compensating the more than one demand partner for the call based on a ratio of previous calls attributed to the more than one demand partner. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of demand partners have separate web sites for presentation of the associated advertisement. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the advertisement request comprises a search request, and the allocated first telephone number is a telephone number without an extension. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising identifying a time of the telephonic connection to the first telephone number and billing the advertiser at a rate corresponding to the time of the telephonic connection. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising billing the advertiser a first higher rate of at least two rates when an advertisement corresponding to the advertiser is displayed in a first position of at least two positions. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request for the advertisement is produced by receiving a search request submitted by the end user. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising recording a time the first telephone number is displayed in an advertisement. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , further comprising recording the advertisement the first telephone number was displayed in. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , further comprising recording the demand partner that served the advertisement that included the first telephone number. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a display queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been displayed. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , further comprising maintaining the display queue in an order relative to corresponding times of displaying respective allocated telephone numbers. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 18 , further comprising selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 18 , further comprising selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been displayed within a predefined period of time. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 18 , further comprising selecting a first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been called within a predefined period of time. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a call-time queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been called. 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 23 , further comprising maintaining the call-time queue in an order relative to corresponding times respective allocated telephone numbers have been most recently called. 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 24 , further comprising selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called. 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 24 , further comprising selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called and having not been displayed within a predefined period of time. 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: maintaining a display queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been displayed, and maintaining a call-time queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been called;
 selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from the display queue of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been displayed within a first predefined period of time; and 
 selecting a second telephone number to be allocated from the call-time queue of telephone numbers, the second telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called and having not been displayed within a second predefined period of time. 
 
     
     
       28. The method of  claim 27 , further comprising in response to the first telephone number having been displayed within the first predefined period of time and the second telephone numbers having been called within the second predefined period of time, selecting one of the first telephone number and the second telephone number to be allocated, the selecting based on a relativeness of the first telephone number to the first predefined period of time and the second telephone number to the second predefined period of time. 
     
     
       29. The method of  claim 28 , further comprising notifying additional telephone numbers are needed for allocation. 
     
     
       30. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising repeating allocation of the first telephone number to a first advertisement to be served at least a second time by the first demand partner. 
     
     
       31. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 in response to a caller initiating a connection with the first telephone number, identifying an origin of the caller and determining if the caller had previously initiated a connection with the first telephone number, the first telephone number having been previously allocated to a first advertisement and currently reallocated to a second advertisement; and 
 in response to determining the caller had previously initiated a connection with the first telephone number, establishing a connection between the caller and an advertiser associated with the first advertisement. 
 
     
     
       32. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a first pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to the first demand partner, and maintaining a second pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to a second demand partner. 
     
     
       33. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a first pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to advertisements associated with a first subject matter, and maintaining a second pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to advertisements associated with a second subject matter. 
     
     
       34. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising allocating a second telephone number to a second advertiser and not permitting the second telephone number to be reallocated to other advertisers. 
     
     
       35. The method of  claim 34 , further comprising allocating the second telephone number to a second advertiser after a predefined period of time has elapsed. 
     
     
       36. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is performed by a first party. 
     
     
       37. A system, comprising:
 a means for allocating a first telephone number to an advertisement and providing the advertisement for presentation to an end user via a first of multiple demand partners, in response to receiving an advertisement request from the first demand partner, the first telephone number to further identify the first demand partner as providing the advertisement; 
 a means for receiving a telephone call to the first telephone number and connecting the received telephone call to a separate telephone number of an advertiser of the advertisement, and identifying the first demand partner as having provided the advertisement; 
 a means for charging the advertiser a predetermined fee for the advertisement, in response to connecting the telephone call, received at the first telephone number provided in the advertisement, to the separate telephone number of the advertiser; and 
 a means for unallocating the first telephone number from the advertisement, in response to a determination that the first telephone number has not been called for a predefined period of time. 
 
     
     
       38. The system of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 a means for maintaining a display queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been displayed; and 
 a means for selecting a first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been called within a predefined period of time. 
 
     
     
       39. The system of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 a means for maintaining a call-time queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been called; and 
 a means for selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called. 
 
     
     
       40. The system of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 a means for maintaining a display queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been displayed, and maintaining a call-time queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been called; 
 a means for selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from the display queue of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been displayed within a first predefined period of time; and 
 a means for selecting a second telephone number to be allocated from the call-time queue of telephone numbers, the second telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called and having not been displayed within a second predefined period of time. 
 
     
     
       41. The system of  claim 40 , further comprising:
 a means for selecting one of the first telephone number and the second telephone number to be allocated based on a relativeness of the first telephone number to the first predefined period of time and the second telephone number to the second predefined period of time, in response to the first telephone number having been displayed within the first predefined period of time and the second telephone number having been called within the second predefined period of time. 
 
     
     
       42. The system of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 a means for maintaining a first pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to the first demand partner, and maintaining a second pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to a second demand partner. 
 
     
     
       43. The system of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 a means for maintaining a first pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to advertisements associated with a first subject matter, and maintaining a second pool of telephone numbers to be allocated to advertisements associated with a second subject matter. 
 
     
     
       44. A computer-readable medium, having stored thereon a sequence of instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:
 in response to receiving an advertisement request from a first of multiple demand partners, allocating a first telephone number to an advertisement and providing the advertisement for presentation to an end user via the first demand partner, the first telephone number to further identify the first demand partner as providing the advertisement; 
 receiving a telephone call to the first telephone number and connecting the received telephone call to a separate telephone number of an advertiser of the advertisement, and identifying the first demand partner as having provided the advertisement; 
 charging the advertiser a predetermined fee for the advertisement, in response to connecting the telephone call, received at the first telephone number provided in the advertisement, to the separate telephone number of the advertiser; and 
 responsive to a determination that the first telephone number has not been called for a predefined period of time, unallocating the first telephone number from the advertisement. 
 
     
     
       45. The computer-readable medium of  claim 44 , wherein the method further comprises:
 allocating the first telephone number to a plurality of different advertisements, 
 if a call to the first telephone number is received, identifying an advertisement of the plurality of advertisements that corresponds to the call; 
 assigning the first telephone number reference to the identified advertisement for future calls to the first telephone number; and 
 unassigning the first telephone number from the plurality of advertisements except the identified advertisement. 
 
     
     
       46. The computer-readable medium of  claim 44 , wherein the method further comprises:
 allocating the first telephone number to a plurality of demand partners serving an associated advertisement; 
 if a call to the first telephone number is received, identifying a demand partner of the plurality of demand partners that corresponds to the call; 
 assigning the first telephone number to the identified demand partner for future calls to the first telephone number; and 
 unassigning the first telephone number from the plurality of demand partners except the identified demand partner. 
 
     
     
       47. The computer-readable medium of  claim 46 , wherein the identifying of the demand partner that corresponds to the call comprises identifying the demand partner based on a temporal proximity between when a demand partner served the associated advertisement and when the call occurred. 
     
     
       48. The computer-readable medium of  claim 44 , wherein the method further comprises:
 maintaining a display queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been displayed; and 
 selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been displayed in an advertisement and having not been displayed within a predefined period of time. 
 
     
     
       49. The computer-readable medium of  claim 44 , wherein the method further comprises:
 maintaining a call-time queue of allocated telephone numbers that have been called; and 
 selecting the first telephone number to be allocated from a set of telephone numbers, the first telephone number being the least recent telephone number of the set to have been called and having not been displayed within a predefined period of time. 
 
     
     
       50. The computer-readable medium of  claim 44 , wherein the method further comprises:
 in response to a caller initiating a connection with the first telephone number, identifying an origin of the caller and determining if the caller had previously initiated a connection with the first telephone number, the first telephone number having been previously allocated to a first advertisement and currently reallocated to a second advertisement; and 
 in response to determining the caller had previously initiated a connection with the first telephone number, establishing a connection between the caller and an advertiser associated with the first advertisement.